Texas Tech Poaches Softball Star With $1 Million NIL Deal

A college softball pitcher signed an NIL collective deal several times the size of many top men’s basketball superstars.

NiJaree Canady is leaving Stanford for Texas Tech after signing a one-year deal worth $1,050,024 with the school’s Matador Club collective, according to The Athletic. The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year leaves the Cardinal after two back-to-back trips to the Women’s College World Series.

For anyone who follows college softball, it’s a puzzling school to shell out this money. The team had a 29–21 record last season, hasn’t made the NCAA tournament since 2019, has never been to the WCWS, and just hired a new head coach. The Red Raiders are nowhere near a softball powerhouse like Oklahoma or UCLA.

“I could never have imagined this,” the ace told ESPN. “But I feel like we need to invest in women’s sports. We saw it with women’s basketball this year: You invest in women’s sports and women’s basketball just blew up on a national stage. I think the same thing has happened with softball. … If I’m even a little part of that, that’s my whole dream.”

The big deal speaks to the talent of Canady, who posted a 0.73 ERA with 337 strikeouts this season. It was enough for Stanford to make a six-figure offer to try to keep her, according to ESPN. Only a few college softball players have six-figure deals, and those are pretty low, Blake Lawrence, the CEO of the NIL marketplace Opendorse, told The Athletic. 

NIL collective deals have dominated the transfer portal in the highest revenue-generating sports like football and men’s basketball. Million dollar payouts can occasionally be reached for top football players, but are rare in all other sports.

This could be the final year that collectives reign over college sports before their influence significantly wanes. This May’s House v. NCAA settlement opened the door to revenue sharing, meaning direct payouts of media-rights dollars from colleges to athletes, as soon as 2025.